Rambutan

Nephelium lappacium. The name literally means ‘hairy’, because the skin of this fruit, which is reddish-pink, has long, soft spines growing from it, though these are too thick and too few to be really like hair. The fruit is about the size of an egg, and the thick rind splits or cuts open easily to reveal a soft-fleshed, white interior. Inside this is a large, rough stone, rather like a plum-stone. The flesh is sweet, juicy, and fragrant, not unlike a lychee (see kelengkeng), which is indeed a closely related species. The lychee, however, has a smooth skin.